24.12.2018.
Ceremonial Academy on the occasion of Air Force and Air Defense Day
The ceremonial academy on the occasion of the Air Force and Air Defense Day was held tonight at the Houses of the Air Force in Zemun, in the presence of the Minister of Defense, Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, Zoran Đorđević, Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Milan Mojsilović, members of the Ministry of Defense and Serbian Armed Forces, officials of the City of Belgrade, local self-governments, religious communities and numerous guests.
On behalf of the President and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Minister Vulin congratulated the Air Force and Air Defense Day to all its members.
- In those difficult and horrific days, against the odds and surpassing all we could hope for, the airborne aviation and anti-aircraft defense, managed to preserve the face of both the armed forces and the nation, and also our free sky. Expecting you to deal with the 19 most powerful countries in the world was more than could be asked or sought, and yet you succeeded – said Minister Vulin, adding that in 1999 they were weaker in everything except in the people who made up the Air Force and Air Defense, thus preserving the face of our country.- There is no armed force that can claim to have endured what you have endured, no aviation that can say it has flown a free sky above its own country in such proportion of superiority, no air defense that can state to have destroyed the most modern aircraft in the world using such systems – said Minister Vulin.
As the Minister said, that night was an opportunity to remember all those who gave their lives and who had made it possible for all present to stand free on that night’s occasion.
- The year before us will by no means be easier than the past years, it will be a year of great pressures in which the great forces will attempt to align and direct us, to have us assume their wars, conflicts and faces as our own. This nation has long ago learned that there is but one thing worth living and dying for – our Serbia, our free Serbia – said Minister Vulin.
The year before us, the Minister of Defense pointed out, is the one in which we will continue to equip, modernize and strengthen, in which we will become more aware of ourselves and of our size and significance.
- You have made our ancestors proud, and left the descendants in ore. You can rest assured that you can rely on them – concluded Minister Vulin.
Congratulating all the members on the occasion, the Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense, Major-General Duško Žarković pointed out that in the history of this armed service lasting for more than a century, there were periods of prosperity, as well as of turbulence, when the state and the nation were being defended and preserved, adding that today we can be proud of all the members of the Air Force and Air Defense who have always been up to the challenge, and who have always valued love for the homeland and freedom more than their lives.- Today, we have a lasting task and obligation to cherish and preserve the memories of them and their heroic deeds, their achievements, since this is the best road to the future – emphasized General Žarković.
Summarizing the results of the past year, General Žarković pointed out that the next year is the year in which the equipping and armed service development will be continued, since the equipping with key combat assets is expected, to ensure a free sky over Serbia and fully qualified and highly motivated personnel.
- The results achieved this year, personnel available and modern means, guarantee that the next year will be even more successful and that all tasks will be accomplished in full, professionally and responsibly – said General Žarković.By the decision of the Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense, the Plaque of the Air Force and Air Defense was awarded to the Agency for Flight Management for the long-standing and successful cooperation; General Žarković awarded the Plaque to Director Predrag Jovanović tonight.
The Air Force and Air Defense Day is celebrated in memory of 24 December 1912, when by the Decision of the Serbian Military Ministry and the Chief General Staff, Vojvoda Radomir Putnik issued a Decision on the establishment of the Air Force Command with the headquarters in Niš.
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